2-4
0-1
Table of estimated population of rhinoceros. Definitely known probable Johore Nil 2 Ulu Bernam 3 4 U. Kenaboi, Selangor nil 1 Gunong Bubu nil 1 Perak/ Kedah 2 4 Ulu Kedah (Thai border) 2 4 Perak/ Kelantan border nil 2 Taman Negara 2 4 Ulu Trengganu nil 2 Krau Reserve nil 2 SE Pahang nil 2 Ulu Perak / Thai border 1 2 Total 10 30 End
2-4
1968, 0-1. No estimate of the rhino population there can be made without considerable research, but at the present time the whole area is relatively undisturbed apart from logging at some places and tin mining at Klian Intan.
Trengganu, I am convinced holds a few animals in the relatively unexplored hinterland although it has not been possible to verify this.
We are now left with southeast Pahang which for the greater part is a vast area of swampy jungle, mainly unexplored and unknown insofar as wildlife is concerned. From this area there periodically emerge migrations of the Bearded Pig (S. barbatus) which the aborigines slaughter as they swim the rivers. Apart from these migrations, this animal is practically unknown in Malaya, and it would certainly not be too far fetched to expect to find rhinoceros somewhere in that wild region, especially in the upper valley of the Sungei Endau.
I am of the opinion that only one species of rhinoceros now exists within the limits of the Malay Peninsula, there being no evidence of the continued presence of the Javan one-horned (R. sondaicus).
Continuing northward, in 1949 the hind quarters of a solitary rhino were seen in the steep foothils of Gunong Bubu.
Commencing our survey in the south of the peninsula, the last known rhino in the State of Johore was shot in 1947 although a few may still exist in the swamps.
In the remote hilly bamboo forest of north Kedah bordering Thailand we heard an unknown number of rhinos and found a number of fresh wallows and dung heaps in April 1941.
Aborigines inhabiting these regions have told me of the presence of a few rhino on the western slopes of Gunong Benom and at a frequently used salt lick high up in the Ulu Klau Ketchil.
It is in the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve in northern Perak and the contiguous Gunong Inas Forest Reserve in south Kedah, that we find the highest concentration of rhinoceros known in Malaya. The rocky inhospitable terrain, containing a series of precipitous 4000 to 6000 foot mountains, is well-watered and has frequent wallows and a number of fine salt licks, which when I inspected them in 1956 were regularly visited. The wide game trails were much used by both rhino and elephant. In fact the Assistant Game Warden of Perak photographed a rhino at a salt lick a year or so later.
The Krau Game Reserve in Central Pahang is also imperfectly known since no exploration has been done there since before 1941 at which time an adult rhino frequented certain salt licks in the southern quarter. Aborigines inhabiting these regions have told me of the presence of a few rhino on the western slopes of Gunong Benom and at a frequently used salt lick high up in the Ulu Klau Ketchil.
During the past five years the face of Malaya has altered considerably in more ways than one, but the expansion of rural development, necessary as it may be to a growing nation, has created very serious problems in the field of wildlife conservation. The two most threatened species are the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerrorhinus sumatrensis) and the seladang (Bos gaurus).
Areas where rhino have been reported - positive, possible and suspected.
The former King George V National Park, now known as Taman Negara, contains large tracts of land in all three of the above-mentioned states, and there is irrefutable evidence of the presence of rhinoceros within that part of Pahang and also in a high remote region in South Kelantan. Last year a solitary adult was seen in Tembeling valley near Park Headquarters and was seen again some weeks ago. To the east and south east of the park (in the upper reaches of the Sungei Tekai and the foothills of Gunong Irong and Gunong Tapis) there is a great sweep of unexplored difficult country which could very easily contain rhinoceros.
